Memories Journal #28- Reunion with Aunt Ann

 She was determined to live to 100 years old. Her Roman Catholic faith unwavering. Pride of her Sicilian heritage. And she radiated so much light. She was my great Aunt Ann, my grandmother's sister who had been a major maternal force in my infant and toddler years. She was always smiling, always speaking positive about everyone, and loved to chat on the phone even at 100 years old. 

I visited with her when I was 18 years old, and then lost touch for 30 years. I found her on Facebook! She was in her mid 90's and on Facebook! In 2021, she was turning 100, and there would be a big party for her. Immediately I began to plan my trip to see her, and bring my oldest daughter with me.

She lived in Costa Mesa among her children and some of her grandchildren. When we got off the plane, we went right to see her, and what a sweet feeling that was. I had been speaking with her on the phone up until our visit, and then to hug her was an incredible feeling. She showed us old pictures, and that in itself was a gift.

The following day was her birthday party. She was wheeled in with a tiara crown! She had hundreds of people gathering around her-she was so well loved. She was presented with a plaque from the mayor of Costa Mesa! AND then she was presented with a Papal blessing from the Pope! This was incredibly special for her. Here we are celebrating her mega birthday-

For her birthday, I made her a throw blanket with flowers. She was a homebody and I wanted to give her something handmade-

During our stay in Southern California, my daughter and I stayed in San Clemente. This is a beautiful city, and we really enjoyed this little getaway.

I was so grateful and glad I made the visit to see Aunt Ann. She passed away the following May. She lived to 100-1/2. While I know she lived a wonderful life, I miss her light. The day my cousin gave the news, this was in the sky above me. For me, I felt her light one last time. I love you Aunt Ann.

Memories Journal #24, #25, #26 & # 27- A desert road trip in 2021

 I have not updated my posts on the Memories Journal I keep for all of my travels, so here I am doing just that...

In the spring of 2021, I took my two older kids on a road trip to Arizona and California. We spent 7 nights traveling down through Nevada, northern Arizona, then south to Tucson, and back up into the lesser traveled parts of California. 

Our first night we spent in Tonopah, Nevada where the infamous Clown Motel is at. I could not convince my oldest to spend the night in this motel unfortunately. On our way south, we stopped in at the Area 51 Alien Travel Center, bought a few trinkets, got some photos of the alien locals and made our way south. Here is the journal entry for that stop-

The second, third and fourth nights we spent in Cottonwood Arizona. This was where we would venture into the Grand Canyon, spend a day in Jerome, and on my bucket list was to visit the vortexes in Sedona. I was able to escape alone to Bell Rock and walked around the area in total peace and bliss. It was April 20th, and the weather was perfect. If I ever get the chance again to hike the area, I will definitely do it. Parking at Cathedral Rock was full, but Bell Rock had plenty as I got there very early.

After we left northern Arizona, we headed south to Tucson. When I lived in Arizona, I never made it down there, and always wished I had. We toured the unique homes in the Catalina Foothills and dreamed of desert living. We visited the Tucson Mineral and Gem World and hauled away a lot of cool stones-plus visited with the T Rex outside the shop. But the real gem I had wanted to see was the Saguaro National Park because the desert was in full bloom! Hummingbirds everywhere, radiant red and yellow flowers blooming on the cactus plants..it was a feast for the eyes. While it's a small park, this was a real treat for me to indulge in, and grateful my kids tolerated an extra couple of days to visit.

Once we left Tucson, it hit me just how far we were from home. So, we headed out early on our last morning in Arizona for the grandest desert of them all-Death Valley National Park. This is an absolutely HUGE park. It took a long time to get into the The Ranch at Death Valley where we would spend a night at. For the cost of the room, I was not impressed with the quality. I do realize a) California is expensive, and b) we were hundreds of miles from anywhere. We did get time at Badwater Basin, which was surreal. The drive took a lot out of us, and we ended up resting more than sightseeing in the park unfortunately. 

The last day we decided to just get home. That was 15 hours of driving! We left early enough to watch the sunrise, and got home close to midnight. In hindsight, I would have left off Death Valley to save for another time and spent more time in northern Arizona. It is truly one of my favorite places to be in all of the U.S. 

Good Fortune. Year of the Dragon.

 This idea has been in my head for months. Once I realized this year was Year of the Dragon, I got to work.

This is Good Fortune. Year of the Dragon. Gouache on 8x10 canvas board.

Creating family heirlooms

 My Czech grandfather gave me some crocheted doilies years ago before he passed. I have them all around my home proudly displayed. They aren't worth much, but to me they are a treasure because I know they are handmade. By whom, I do not know, but I will assume it's someone in our family. 

Lately I've been seeing videos on social media of people taking old handmade tablecloths and repurposing them into clothing. While that might seem really cool if you're wanting to be trendy in fashion, I personally am quite put off by it. I understand the level of effort it took for someone to make that piece, and to hack it up into a shirt that might someday not be trendy is a waste. I'm all about up cycling, but I also think there's a line that can be crossed with it. 

Now that I'm off that soap box, the idea of family heirlooms being passed down inspired me to crochet a table runner for my how lineage. So of course I ran down to my closed yarn store-which happens to specialize in crochet over knitting! Green Trees Crochet has yarn made especially for crocheters. The staff is super friendly too. I bought a whole skein of Clea in the color Aquarium and decided to pick out the pattern later (isn't that how we always do it?).  After searching Ravelry and Etsy, I came back to a free pattern offered on the Circulo website called the Blanc Table Runner which features the Clea yarn I purchased. 

The actual results were a little different from the pattern. I might crochet loosely as my finished product came out with less motifs than the pattern said to make with just one skein. It still turned out magnificent and I know have this on my vintage dresser.

Cats (and a dog) portraits

 A neighbor of mine loves cats, so I jumped on the opportunity to paint them. She has 3 Maine Coons (which are very cool cats), a Sphinx (!), and a black cat. 

Turns out I really enjoy the company of cats, and painting them as well.

A long time friend of mine lost her Cane Corso recently. His name was Enzo, and he was a behemoth of a dog. He was just seven years old, which seems young for a dog to move to the rainbow bridge. To send my condolences, I sketched Enzo on blue paper in pastels. This was my first time really using pastels, and being that Enzo had a blue-gray coat, I thought this was perfect. RIP Enzo.

My exotic King quilt

 After upgrading from a Queen to a King size bed, I didn't want to part with my Queen duvet I had made. I made an entry for this almost seven years ago in Finally back to sewing. I questioned if taking it apart, adding borders, hand quilting it, and then sewing the binding would be worth it. So, with a week off from work as a creative 'Staycation', I got to work. 

This was a huge task, and my fingers are pretty much devoid of fingerprints from hand quilting around the squares. I used a dark gray bed sheet for the backing because a) fabric is expensive, and b) I like to use what I have on hand. Once I quilted it together, I had to cut binding at a 90' angle from another bedsheet, pin it, and ensure the corners didn't show any gaps. 

All throughout the finishing of this quilt, my cat Cece lended her paw-well, not really. But she definitely enjoys this quilt and thinks it's hers now.

Virgo

 Sometimes stepping out of your comfort zone with creativity helps determine where focus should be placed upon. While I am pleased with this piece for the most part, it has taught me that my preference for watercolors and gouache runs deep. 

Virgo is a zodiac sign that I have encountered on a deep and personal level. We can just leave it at that. The actual symbolism of the sign is a maiden, who reigns over wheat, who are portrayed as innocent, and apply logic, practicality and order into everything they do. They are the perfectionists, the critics, but always kind. This painting shows the maiden peering out over the windy atmosphere, hair flowing to the wheat she stands among, and her collected daisies disperse with the flow of turbulent airflow. Her eyes hold concern for a coming storm, but she remains grounded.

I used M. Graham acrylics, which are high quality paints on a 16" X 20" canvas. This piece taught me that acrylics aren't a medium I enjoy. It took a few months to complete this, mostly because I couldn't find the enthusiasm and joy I feel when working with watercolors and gouache. Acrylics don't flow well, even when mediums are added. And you have to use A LOT to get the vibrancy I am after. Once it dries on the palette, you can't rehydrate it like watercolors and gouache. I have a huge set of nice acrylics, so I will save them for other projects, like rock painting.